The 76th Hunger Games
by Pinneappletrampoline
Summary: The rebellion worked. Districts 12 and 13 were rebuilt. The citizens of Panem thrived for years until resources ran low. Panem began to collapse, and as a result, a central government was established in the Capitol. The Hunger Games recommenced.
1. Introduction

It has been fifty years since the last Hunger Games. In the 74th Hunger Games, two victors emerged. Peeta and Katniss, the two victors, sparked an uprising, causing the 75th Hunger Games to be sabotaged leaving no victor. The districts upraised and overthrew the Capitol.

The districts, including a rebuilt District 12 and 13, have been living in harmony up until a few years ago. Unfortunately, without a strong central government, Panem began to collapse. Many rich citizens, especially government officials, moved to the Capitol and took control. Some citizens in the districts opposed this migration, but the poor district citizens had to spend most of their energy trying to stay alive.

With a much stronger central government, citizens in the Capitol, who had much harder lives since the rebellion, were starting to get better treatment. As they got richer, the districts got poorer, and soon things were back to the way they were. With everything back to the way it was, the infamous District 13 tried again to upraise. While the rebellion was slightly more successful than the original time, District 13 still disappeared quickly after trying to rebel. The affairs of District 13 were a mystery to the other 12 districts, and the Capitol government only stated that District 13 was no longer part of Panem.

Then the Capitol came out with a new statement. As a punishment for the rebellion, the Hunger Games would recommence. Outrage filled the districts. Many citizens were killed, including many soldiers of the Capitol, but in the end, the districts were simply too weak. One change would be made to the Hunger Games though. In response to the Capitol citizens' wishes for Peeta and Katniss to survive together, the rule change for the Hunger Games made it possible for two victors to survive the Hunger Games. The tributes would declare their partner before the interviews.

I am one of the tributes for the 76th Hunger Games. My name is Ceth Harrison, and I am a 16 year old from District 12. Normally, I would be at an extreme disadvantage because Districts 1, 2, and 4 would have been training for the Hunger Games, but there has been no need to train since the Hunger Games were abolished fifty years ago. In fact, I might be at an advantage this year because I have a living mentor, Katniss Everdeen. Peeta died during the rebellion, and Haymitch died about 20 years ago.

My counterpart, Helena Miller, is one of my friends. We would run together in the summer and we had class together in the school year, so we are pretty close. I know that we will be partners in the Games.

After we are chosen, we shake hands and are taken to a holding room. I say goodbye to my family and friends. Of course, it was sad for everyone, but I had more important things to think about. I have confidence that I will make it back, and my family can get along fine without me in case I don't, so I don't cry. I ask for advice from my grandparents, who were alive during the Games. They tell me to take advantage of my running abilities.

"Ceth, you are a fast runner. You have run every inch of this town and so has Helena. Don't leave the Cornucopia empty handed, but avoid the middle. That's where the careers will be." My grandfather said.

"Dad, there won't be any careers. The 76th Hunger Games are a surprise to everyone, so they haven't been training." My mom said.

"Don't be so sure. I bet at least one district has kept training tributes just in case. Ceth, watch the reapings. If there are any volunteers from Districts 1, 2, or 4, they are Careers. Or suicidal."

"You'll be home by Thanksgiving." My grandmother said.

I believe my grandfather about Careers. I saw the Hunger Games coming as soon as mandatory television viewing became law when there was something important to see. The televisions in the town center were generally used for the Hunger Games before the rebellion. If I, a 16 year old, could predict the Games, many adults must have as well, especially the ones who lived through them.

Our hour with visitors is up, and Helena and I are taken to a train. Katniss is with us as well as our escort, Franetta. Katniss seems incredibly unhappy. From what I remember seeing her in town, she was always glum. Most likely this even more sour mood resulted from the Games recommencing. Franetta, a very typical escort (from what my grandparents told me), shows us the recaps of the reapings. As Grandpa predicted, there are volunteers. The males from Districts 1 and 2 volunteer and the female from District 4 volunteers. Surprisingly, the male from District 11 is also a volunteer. They look strong, but I still believe I can win.

The youngest tribute is a 13 year-old girl from District 7. She looks terrified and weak. Her glasses fell off as she walked on stage, and, crying, she mouthed the word please as her escort asked for volunteers. Nobody did, but when the male tribute, Anthony Thayer, was called, a volunteer walked confidently to the stage. The young girl saw the volunteer's face, and immediately broke into tears yet again.

"No!" She screamed. "Don't, Garth! Don't volunteer!"

Anthony Thayer looked at Garth. "Penelope is right. Don't worry, Garth, I'll bring your sister back with me." Garth says something to Anthony before walking away.

Anthony turned down a volunteer! I'm disappointed because Garth appeared much weaker than Anthony. Anthony may have had a fighting chance, but he promised to side himself with a puny girl, so he will doubtfully be victorious.

On any other day, this moment would have touched me, but today I have abandoned emotion for logical thinking. I have abandoned love for apathy. But I know I must stay in character as the optimistic, cheerful guy I was to gain sponsors and to avoid alienating Helena. I suspect she is doing a similar thing on the inside though. I suspect all tributes go through this process.

That night, we feasted. Tomorrow is the Opening Ceremonies.


	2. Training

My prep team was very annoying. They hurt me and changed me, but I can get over that. I can't get over their obnoxious attitude. Their voices about superficial topics will be ringing in my ears for months. My stylist isn't as obnoxious. He never talks, but he treats me like a mannequin. This year, the stylists must recreate the costumes from the first Hunger Games. Fortunately for me, the costumes were very classy back then. Instead of the ridiculous modern pieces, the tributes of the first Hunger Games wore suits and dresses. I will be wearing a coal miner's helmet and a black suit. It is very simple. Helena's outfit is similar, but she wears a black dress.

We step out of our carriage holding hands, just as Peeta and Katniss did years ago. We smile and wave and act confident. Almost every district is holding hands or in some way acting friendly with each other. The only exceptions are the Career districts and District 11. After the ceremony, Helena and I return to our floor. We decide this is a good opportunity to discuss strategy with Katniss.

Katniss is old and grumpy. Her wrinkles reveal the stress of the rebellion, but she has no laugh lines. She sits on a chair, while Helena and I sit opposite her on a couch. She begins to speak.

"You two are going to be partners?"

"Yes'm." I say. "We were friends at home and want to go back together."

Katniss takes a swig of beer before speaking. "You two need to remember why you need to get back home. You can't rely on pure animal instinct. What is keeping you from just giving up? Don't answer that. Tell me, what are your strengths."

Helena and I look at each other. "We can run. Fast and far." Helena says. "In terms of weaponry, we have no idea."

Katniss eyes us up and down, making me uncomfortable. I feel as if she left a trail of slime where she looked at me. "Well, to start, you two don't have much muscle in the arm. Knife throwing is out. Hand-to-hand combat is out. Perhaps swords or archery. I want to keep you guys far away from the others. Train in archery. The distance will be to your advantage. Sample most stations and report to me if you have any hidden talents, but then focus on archery."

Katniss leaves to go to sleep, giving Helena and I time to strategize alone.

"I think I can get to a bow before anyone else." I tell her.

"Don't. There will be no protection for you if a monster decides to attack. I'm probably faster than the girls, but there's no way I can outrun the guys."

"Then it might be a good idea to align with someone else."

Helena nods, and we go to sleep without another word. I dream about the Games. By the time I wake up, I forget what happened in my dream, but I have a good feeling about the first day of training.

I'm feeling excited and confident about today. My morning shower exhilarates me even more. I head to breakfast.

Franetta explains to Helena and me the rules. We know almost everything, but then she gets to the part about the recent rule change. She stresses that we do not have to be partners with each other or someone of the opposite sex. All we must do is tell her who our partners are before the interview.

After Franetta finishes explaining the rules, we have time with Katniss.

"Don't pay attention to the other tributes. Ignore them. You don't want to get attached." Katniss tells us.

"Katniss, we want allies." I say. "I can get to the Cornucopia first, but Helena can't defend me unless she has a weapon. We need somebody to protect me as I gather weapons."  
"No." Katniss says. "No going into the bloodbath. You want survive."

"I'm fast-"

"No! You will run away. And no alliances either. I don't want you to be close to anyone in the Games besides each other. I'm the mentor, and this is the end of our discussion."

Helena and I wait for Katniss to leave before talking.

"What do you want to do?" Helena says. "I know you can outrun everyone, and I can outrun all the girls, and probably most of the guys, too."

"I say we do what we want. What's the worst she can do once we're in the Games?" I say.

She thinks about this for a moment. "She's our mentor. She has the control to send us supplies and stuff. If we disobey, she might not send us anything."

"She's not that heartless. She won't just watch us die if she can do something about it."

"Don't be so sure. She's been through a lot. She might actually be completely heartless. Let's go to training. We can discuss this later."

We walk to the elevator and head to training. All the tributes there are gathered around an official waiting for the rules. When the last tributes arrive, the official tells us some basic rules. We are set free to explore the training facilities, so Helena and I go to archery as Katniss told us to do. The man there explains the basics of archery, and we begin target shooting. It takes about an hour, but both Helena and I are able to hit the dummy every time from 20 feet away. We practice for a while longer before deciding to go to knot tying.

At knot tying, we learn human traps. Both Helena and I are quite adept at knot tying, so we are able to memorize some advanced traps that could be useful in just over an hour.

While Helena and I are eating our lunch together, the District 7 tributes come over to us. Anthony Thayer and the little girl, Penelope.

"You can already see the pairings." Anthony says. His southern drawl is strong, but it makes me uncomfortable. "Most everyone is partnerin' up with their own district, 'cept the volunteers. The boys from Districts 1 and 2 seem to be partners. The girls from those districts, too, but jus' outta need for a partner. The District 4 girl don't have a good option 'cause the District 11 male turned her down. I saw the whole thing. She jus' asked 'im, and he jus' says no. Jus' like that. I don't know who he wants mor'an District 4."

Anthony keeps talking about these pairings and after a while, Helena says, "What do you want with us?"

"I want an alliance." He says, his southern accent vanishing with his smile. "I can't protect Penelope on my own. I need you, and I think you could use me."


	3. Interviews

**Hello. Sorry I didn't have anything before my other stories. I just forgot to add anything. I don't own the Hunger Games or any characters from the Hunger Games. This is my first fanfiction, so I'm not positive how disclaimers work.**

**Thank you to those of you who alerted my story, and thank you to SoldierOfHalla18 for the review. I, like any writer, love reviews. Is my tense awkward? Do I portray Katniss realistically? Do I have too much detail? Too little? Reviews are appreciated very much.**

I find myself at a loss for words when Anthony tells us he wants an alliance. With my mouth open like a guppy, I look at Helena, but she, with a straight face, has already began to question Anthony. Her quick thinking could win us the Games.

"How fast are you?" She asks.

"I'm the best runner out of all my friends." Anthony says.

"Race Ceth right now."

I've snapped out of my daze by now, so I stand up, ready to run. Anthony gives a confused look to Penelope, but then he gets up. Helena counts us down, and we race about 50 yards. I win, but only by a split second. Afterwards, he is much more tired than I am though.

Helena walks over to us with Penelope behind her. Helena gives a sly smile to Anthony and says, "Welcome aboard."

Helena and I agree not to tell Katniss about our new alliance. The last training days go by uneventfully. Neither of us have any hidden talents, so we continue to focus on archery. The man teaches us how to make a bow in case there is only one supplied in the arena. We have memorized two human traps, so getting our hands on some rope would be helpful. At lunch, we sit with Anthony and Penelope. Anthony is quite a talker, and he keeps up his Southern drawl, even though we know it's fake. I suppose he is preparing for the interviews. We explain to Anthony the plan. I will go directly into the Cornucopia and I will grab a sword or knife for Anthony. He will protect me until Helena gets there. Then he should grab as much as he can and go find Penelope who will be hiding. Helena and I will get more stuff and follow him.

During training, Anthony focuses on knife throwing and swords, as well as hand-to-hand combat. He is very strong, which makes him a perfect addition to our team. Penelope focuses on survival skills, especially finding edible plants.

I find out that the District 5 male is deaf. His skills in knife throwing are amazing, but he's deaf. The District 5 female is a fit girl who seems cold. I bet she doesn't want to be partners with him, but her choices are slim. Almost everyone already has a partner. Getting a partner now, right before the interviews, will be very difficult.

Preparing for the interviews includes reporting who our partner will be. Helena and I tell our escort, Franetta, that we want to be partners. She is ecstatic about our partnership. Why wouldn't she be? She could be the second ever escort to bring home two winners of the Games. After Franetta explains to us how great this opportunity is for her and how important it is for us to win, she begins to train us for the interview with Katniss.

We agree on my angle to be charming. Confident, but not cocky. Funny if I can. I was like that before I was reaped for the Hunger Games, so I should be able to portray myself in this light easily. Helena's angle is to be goofy. She was always very goofy, especially her laugh. This angle hasn't been tried before, according to Franetta, so I am a little concerned with how the Capitol will react, but Franetta says there are many citizens who will love Helena.

The interviews this year will be done in partners, and we will be given double the time. The host this year is Yolanda Geary. Her dark blue skin contrasts her bright pink eyes and hair. She seems intimidating with her bold colors, but Franetta assures us that she is very pleasant.

The interviews start with the boys from Districts 1 and 2. Flicker from District 1 and Venom from District 2. Venom acts cold and sullen, but Flicker tries a different approach. Flicker tries to lighten the mood and persuade Venom to lighten up. When Yolanda asks Venom what he likes most about the Capitol, Venom answered her without looking. "I just want to get in the Games. I hate the Capitol."

"Aw, babe, don't be like that." Flicker said. He put his hand on Venom's shoulder. "What he really likes is the hot showers. I practically have to pull him out when it's time to go to bed." I look at Helena with a surprised look on my face. I never would have expected these two buff guys who seem so cold blooded to try to pull off the "lovers" angle.

Yolanda asks Flicker what his favorite part of the Capitol is, and Flicker says, "My favorite part of coming to the Capitol is that I met Venom." I look in the audience and most of them have their hands over their hearts. A collective "aw" comes from the crowd.

The Capitol is going to eat up this relationship. Not only are they strong and tough, but they are in love, too. Their relationship is so modern, and the Capitol loves everything modern. I assume that they're not really in love, or even gay. The girls from Districts 1 and 2 fall short when they get interviewed. They're both pretty weak, and they each try to portray a different angle. Their whole interview is just awkward. There's no way they will get many sponsors.

The males from Districts 4 and 5 are partners. The District 4 male isn't a career, so the District 4 girl doesn't want anything to do with him, even though he is a fairly strong 17 year old boy. The District 5 male is the deaf one, who is 14 years old. When Yolanda asks a question to District 5, District 4 signs it to him. When asked how he knows sign language, he replies, "My younger brother is deaf. When Gordon and I met, we instantly clicked because of this bond. Gordon reminds me so much of my brother. I have to protect him." The audience ate this story up like cake. While the District 4 boy, Parker, does seem to know sign language, I bet he could be faking it. He probably learned the signs for the most common interview questions and memorized Gordon's responses to them. If there was a more personal question, he could fake it and make up Gordon's answer when he repeated it to Yolanda. No one in the Capitol has need for sign language anyway. If they're deaf, doctors can fix it. And people in the Capitol are not interested in learning just for the sake of learning.

The District 4 girl is up next. This career is partners with the girl from District 5. The District 5 girl does seem intense, but I doubt she is even close to the standards of the careers. They pull off a big sister/little sister relationship well. I realize then that Helena and I did not play our cards right. With this partnership, everyone is going to be portraying new angles that fit for two people. Lovers, siblings, I don't know what else. All I know is that Helena and I need to think of something quickly before our turn. Only the girls from Districts 1 and 2 haven't done an angle for both partners, and they bombed the interview.


	4. Interviews Part II

**Hi! I'm sorry for the abrupt ending in the last chapter. I expected to get this chapter up much earlier. Excuses, excuses, as they say. Since it has been so long, here is a quick refresher. Ceth and Helena have teamed up with the Anthony and Penelope from District 7. Ceth is concerned because during the interviews, the teams are using angles that work for two people (such as lovers or siblings), but he and Helena are unprepared.**

The tributes from District 6 claim to be cousins. They say their grandmother is sick, and if they win, they can afford to cure her. When asked what illness she has, the boy says, "She has tuberculosis, so we can't even give her a hug. All we can do is sit across the room from her and listen to her cough."

I look at Helena and whisper her name. She looks back at me and says, "What?"

"We need a gimmick. Something that connects us. Otherwise we can't get sponsors. Everyone else has something, besides those girls."

"Don't worry. I have a plan. Just try not to act so shocked when I start talking."

Her response annoys me, but I realize that I am easily shocked. I need to tone down my reactions and think quicker on my feet if I want a chance in the Games.

Anthony and Penelope are up next. Anthony explains why he turned down Garth as a volunteer. Garth is Penelope's brother and Anthony's best friend. Anthony knew that he had a better chance of winning the game and protecting Penelope. Penelope is very grateful to Anthony because now her mom won't have to lose two more children. I'm not sure how much of their story is real, but I believe most of it. Anthony charms the audience with his accent, and I suppose it worked on me a little bit, too.

District 8 tries to pull off the "lovers" angle, but the age difference (the girl is 17; the boy is 15) makes it awkward.

District 9, like us, doesn't have a good angle, but a good angle can only help a little when you're as weak as District 9.

The District 10 tributes claim to be best friends and pull it off pretty well. Helena and I could have used this angle, but now we need an amazing story to grab the audience's attention.

Both District 11 tributes walk onstage slowly. They have black hair, dark skin, and seem to even have black eyes. They are wearing all black outfits. I wonder what their stylists were thinking. The Capitol wants glimmer and shine, not depressing and dark.

When asked why he volunteered, the District 11 boy replies, "Because the rope broke."

Once again, I am shocked. I could have sworn that this strong, skilled young man was training. He just wants to die? The girl doesn't seem shocked. Does she want to die, too? The rest of the interview is painfully awkward. Then Helena and I are up.

I have no idea what to expect. It's all I can do not to shout at Helena for answers. Why can't she just tell me?

We shake hands with Yolanda and sit. Yolanda asks us what our initial reactions were to being picked for the Hunger Games.

"As soon as my name was called, I was prepared to kill anyone," Helena says. "That included Ceth, until we partnered up. I knew immediately I would win the Games. If Ceth wants to help, that's fine."

I don't know what Helena is doing. I have to go along with it though. Helena knows what's what, I hope. Yolanda's question catches me off guard. She asked me how I feel about Helena. I suppose Helena wants me to feel apathetic.

"I don't care about Helena. We're partners because she and I can win the Games together, not because I like her," I say. I give Helena a skeptical look. She nods very slightly.

The rest of the interview goes by as smoothly as possible for an improvised angle.

"I don't know if we have anything in common. We both can shoot an arrow and run. I know nothing more about him than his skills that could be useful in the arena."

"Everyone else already had a partner. She's strong though. She'll be useful to me."

"We met at the reaping. We shook hands. No, I don't remember anything else."

"My favorite part of the Capitol is the Hunger Games."

The buzzer goes off and we walk away. After the national anthem plays, we are dismissed.

"What was that angle?" I say on the way back to our room.

"Nobody pulled off the cold-blooded angle besides Venom, but Flicker was there to ruin it for him. Trust me, it worked."

We open the door to our room to see that Katniss is waiting there waiting for us.

"What was that? You guys completely abandoned the angles we agreed on!"

"Yeah, but that was before we realized it sucked. Listen, no one else pulled off the cold-blooded angle," Helena says.

"You guys are lucky that they didn't do training scores this year. Then your little scheme wouldn't have worked."

Katniss waited for us to respond. She looked from me to Helena and back again expectantly.

"Katniss," I say, "Why _didn't_ they do training scores this year?"

Realization hits Katniss' eyes. "Training scores were incorporated for the first time in the first Quarter Quell. They didn't have them in the first Hunger Games! The outfits for the Opening Ceremonies were the same, too. They're trying to recreate the original Hunger Games. Which means," Katniss drifts off and walks out of the room. I hear her shout to Franetta, our escort, but I can't hear what she's saying. She returns with a tape in her hand.

"Here in my hand is the tape for the original Hunger Games. I think the arena will be the same. The obstacles may even be the same. We have to watch it."

I stand paralyzed for a moment as I think about how great this is. If Katniss is right, Helena and I will have such an upper hand. I hope nobody else figured out the secret.


	5. Let the Games Begin!

**Thank you for reviewing. The Games are going to begin.**

That night, the night before the Games, no matter how many blankets I wrapped around myself, I was cold. I lay on my side huddled up into a ball. Looking at my dresser, I saw the wristband that my grandfather gave me before I left to the Capitol. It felt warm in my hand when I picked it up. A tear fell down my cheek. This was the wristband passed down in my family. This flimsy wristband represents all my family has. I remember why I have to win. I have a future in District 12. I have to pass down the wristband to my child. And I have to make sure my child is safe from the Hunger Games by abolishing them forever. Suddenly, I don't feel as cold.

I wake up when my escort, Franetta, shakes me. It's the day of the Games. I say my goodbyes, I get injected with a tracking device, and I get dressed in a black nylon outfit. It seems perfect for running and warm for the night. I find myself on a metal plate before I know it. I look around and see the Cornucopia about 200 yards in front of me. All around me is forest. I recognize it immediately as the original arena.

"This year," a loud voice boomed, "You have been placed in the original arena. Without further ado, let the 76th annual Hunger Games begin!"

The sixty seconds start counting down, so I try to soak in as much as I can of my surroundings. I see Helena to my left. To my right is the District 1 girl. We are in order by district, which puts Penelope and Anthony at exactly 12:30 and 1:00, respectively.

I hear the gong sound, and I sprint to the Cornucopia. I see Anthony coming almost directly across from me, and I can feel Flicker, the District 1 male, on my tail. I reach the Cornucopia first. Just as I am grabbing a sword to give to Anthony, I hear him pound Flicker. I hand the sword to Anthony, and I hear as it makes contact with Flicker.

I grab a set of knives that I give to Helena, who is just approaching. I pick up a bow and put a sheath of arrows on my shoulder. I see Helena put the knives in a backpack that she is holding. She apparently picked it up on her way to the Cornucopia. I see another bow not far away, so I run to it. A girl with an axe grabs it as soon as I do. I prepare to let go, but a knife flies from behind me and lands in her forehead. I can't move as I watch her eyes go blank. She falls over, and I snap out of my trance, tossing the bow to Helena.

I see two boys fighting over a first aid kit about 20 yards away. I shoot my arrow, and it hits the larger boy in the arm. He lets go of the kit, and the other boy begins to run away. He chose the wrong direction. As he runs closer to me, though at an angle, I take aim and shoot my arrow. It hits him directly in the neck, and he immediately collapses. I take his first aid kit.

At this point, I look around. I see six, no seven, bodies on the ground. I watch as Helena chases after the District 8 girl. Her "boyfriend", who is two years younger than she, tries to protect her by swinging a mace at Helena, but he misses. Helena shoots her arrow at the girl.

From behind me, a spear flies by my head. I jerk around to see Venom. Passion floods his eyes as he throws another spear. I dodge his attack and load my arrow, ready to shoot, but I hesitate for a moment. Venom is weaponless at this point, but he is still charging towards me. I lower my arrow slightly. Before I have time to shoot, Venom runs right into my arrow, tackling me to the ground. The arrow must have gone right through his heart. As I am trying to get up, he smiles and rolls over, dead.

I turn around to see the initial fighting is over. Helena is jogging back with a mace and a bunch of rope. Behind her, the corpse of the 15 year old boy lies over the corpse of his girlfriend.

From the forest to my left, Penelope comes running towards us. She did an excellent job hiding, and now she is safe, for a while. A cannon fires. Again. Again. A total of ten times. I look around and see all the dead bodies.


	6. Emotions Return

**Thank you for reviews! Of course, I always appreciate them. Here is the next installment.**

We sort out our supplies at the Cornucopia. Penelope stands guard, and Anthony has his knives ready just in case. We have three backpacks: two large black ones and a smaller green one. We decide to break the spears and keep the spearheads to discard later. None of us can use them well, so we might as well get rid of them. The mace we leave there, though we break off the handle so it is unusable. The first aid kit, which includes iodine, we put in one of the larger bags along with an axe that was lying untouched by the Cornucopia. This bag is for Anthony.

"I'll keep my sword and knives with me," he says.

We put the rope, the twine we found, and a sleeping bag in my backpack. Helena's backpack, the smaller one, contains some dried fruit, a loaf of bread, and two water bottles. All that remains is some various foods. There wasn't much to begin with at the Cornucopia, and most of it got snatched up. Penelope carries some cheese and jerky with her.

We eat the remaining food that we can't carry and walk into the northern forest (according to the compass we found) to where Helena and I know we will find a cave. Neither of us explains that we know the first arena's basic outline. We just pretend to be wandering.

Before sunset, we find the cave. It is unoccupied, so we settle in and eat a dinner of bread and cheese. When we finish eating, we still have half a loaf of bread and some cheese left, which we fit into the food bag. The anthem begins to play, and we look into the sky.

First, I see Flicker. Anthony cut his head clear off; he was the first to die. His lover's image follows his. Venom, the boy who seemed so heartless. I think back and can't help but wonder if he killed himself with my arrow today. The District 2 girl is next, then the small boy from District 3. He was my kill today- I took his first aid kit. I feel sick to my stomach.

I see the District 6 girl, the one Anthony killed to protect me. This means Parker and Gordon, District 4 and the deaf kid, are alive, as well as the career girl and her partner. Helena's kills, the lovers of District 8, are followed by both District 9 tributes. I suspect Anthony killed those two. The last image is the boy from District 10, the one I injured in the arm. I don't know who finished him off, but I know the arrow was gone by the time I went to retrieve it.

I expected to see District 11 next. I expected that they killed themselves somewhere in the forest. But they are still alive, camouflaged somewhere in the shadows.

Anthony takes the first shift as Helena, Penelope, and I sleep using the sleeping bag as a blanket. The night is cold, and I fall asleep feeling chilled.

In the middle of the night, Helena shakes me awake. I bolt up and grab my bow.

"Relax," she says. "It's just your shift to keep guard." I sigh and put down my boy. I touch my wristband with my right hand and begin to weep.

"Helena," I whisper. "I killed someone today. That little District 3 boy, I killed him. He had a family and a life, but I took it away. I killed him, Helena! I killed him!" Helena's slap across my face causes me to stop talking, but the tears continue.

"Get a grip, or I'll have to kill _you_, and you can join that boy in the sky."

"Helena! Drop the act!" I am still being quiet, but my anger is present in my voice. "Right now, I need a friend, so just quit acting so cold! The boy I killed, I don't remember anything about him. Not his name, not his interview. He wasn't even attacking me, and I just shot him. An innocent boy died today because of me."

Helena looks in my eyes. "Ceth, none of us are innocent." She lies down and closes her eyes, leaving me to stand guard. A cannon fires, and another tear escapes my eye.

I see something fall in front of me. I walk up to it and see it is a package from a sponsor. All that's inside is a bottle of a blue drink, labeled "Gatorade". The label says it is an energy drink. I take a couple sips of the drink and the taste is like nothing I've ever had before. I put it in my backpack. After my shift, I wake up Anthony and go back to sleep.


	7. An Encounter

**A/N- Sorry that I haven't updated my story in so long. I hope I haven't lost any readers, but if I have, it's my own fault. Thank you for reviewing. Happy holidays and happy New Year.**

**Review: At the Cornucopia, Ceth, Helena, and Anthony dominated, killing several people. There are now 14 tributes alive. Ceth and Helena (District 12) teamed up with Anthony and Penelope (District 7) because Ceth needed protection for when he got to the Cornucopia so he wouldn't be killed. The alliance slept in a cave for the night. Ceth and Helena know the layout of the arena because they figured out it would be the same arena as it was in the first Hunger Games. Helena and Ceth tried to play the "cold-blooded" angle, but after the first day, Ceth had an emotional break down in front of Helena.**

Anthony awakes me the following morning for a breakfast of beef jerky. We have only a bottle of water left, and we are all thirsty. "We'll get some water from our sponsors," Anthony says, but Helena scowls at this idea.

"We're not relying on sponsors for something as simple as water," she says. "No. We will go find a river." With that, we all pick up our bags and follow Helena out of the cave. I look at my compass and notice that we are headed east.

Catching up to Helena, I whisper, "Where are you going? The river is further north."

"Don't be stupid," she says. "We don't want Anthony and Penelope to know about our advantage." I slump back to my spot behind her.

Helena stops walking, and I almost walk into her. She puts a finger to her lips as she turns around. I look in front of her to see Gordon, the deaf boy from District 5, picking berries. His partner, Parker, from District 4, is nowhere to be seen.

"Helena," I say quietly, though not at a whisper, "He's deaf. We don't have to be quiet."

"Don't be retarded; this is a trap. District 4 wouldn't leave him on his own. This deaf kid is bait." Helena's whisper pierces my ears.

A thud coming from behind causes us all to turn around. I hear Helena let out a yelp. Facing forward again, I see Helena with a knife in her arm and Parker ready to throw another. Behind him, Gordon is still picking berries. Helena pulls the knife out of her arm without making a sound of pain. The rip in her outfit is patched with blood, the knife in her hand is shielded with blood, and Helena just ignores her pain and hurls the bloody knife with her bloody arm at Parker. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Penelope running south, away from the river.

I ready my bow and fire at Parker, who dodges my attack. By now, Gordon has noticed our presence and has a dagger in his hand. From behind me, Anthony says, "Run. They have us outnumbered."

"We'll go north. You follow Penelope," Helena says. As she bolts away, I fire one last shot at Gordon before following Helena. Gordon's soft moan assures me that my arrow made contact with him. I hear no footsteps chasing us, so when I gain a safe distance, I turn to look. I see Parker attending to Gordon and two figures behind him, a boy and a girl. Could it be District 11? The only other male still alive is District 6, but him partner, his cousin, is dead.

Helena and I jog the mile or so to the river. We know there is no decent structure nearby to be a shelter, so we just settle down by the riverside.

"Damn," Helena says. Penelope was carrying the full water bottle with her, and Anthony has the iodine."

I smile and say, "It doesn't matter. We got a gift last night." I pull out the Gatorade and hand it to Helena. She drinks some without saying anything.

"Helena, I think Katniss was rewarding me for my emotional outburst last night. She doesn't want us to be cold-blooded killers; she wants us to be human." Right on cue, a bottle of iodine falls and lands at our feet.

"I doubt it," Helena says. I stare at her, mouth open. Did she not see the gift? Obviously that's a sign that I'm right.

"But Helena!" I say, but she cuts me off.

"Let's set up traps around this tree and sleep in the branches," she says. I give up trying to explain myself and take the rope out of my bag. We set up three human traps. We find two large branches next to each other to sleep on. It's uncomfortable, but there's no chance we will fall out. As the anthem plays, I only see one face in the sky. The District 10 girl is dead. Thirteen still remain.

The next morning, the sound of a girl's yelp wakes us up. I see Penelope hanging by her foot in one of our traps. "Don't worry Penelope. This must be Helena and Ceth's trap. I recognize the rope." The voice belongs to Anthony; his accent is unmistakable. Helena and I get out of our sleeping bag. I climb down the tree to meet them.

"Hey, Anthony! Hey, Penelope! We'll get you out in a second."

An arrow flies above me and hits Anthony in the forehead. Anthony falls over, Penelope shrieks, and I can't move at all. A tendril loop of blood glides down Anthony's ghostly face. Helena drops down from the tree next to me. I realize what happened, so I rush to Anthony and grab the first aid kit. By the time I get to him, a cannon fires. Penelope screams again and another cannon fires. I cry and throw myself onto Anthony's dead body. Why did I leave Helena alone with Penelope? I don't understand what happened; Helena betrayed our alliance with District 7.

"Helena!" My voice surprises me. I didn't realize how angry I could sound. "How could you do this? They were our friends!" I turn around to see Helena calmly searching Penelope's upside-down corpse. I try to yell more, but tears control my voice. Helena finishes searching Penelope and moves to Anthony. I untie her from the trap and lay her down on the ground next to Anthony with her arms crossed. I close both their eyes as Helena continues to search Anthony for valuables.

"Did you get the rope?" Helena says. I look at her with red eyes and nod. "Good," she says, and she walks away without taking a second glance and our friends. We pack up all our supplies and head to an area with more trees to hide us while we eat breakfast. I notice that Anthony and Penelope received some bread, most likely from District 7. I feel guilty eating it, but I'm too hungry to pass up decent food.

"We were done with them," Helena says. Her voice surprises me. "We aligned with them so Anthony could protect you at the Cornucopia. It's good we killed them now before they killed us." I don't respond. After a few more moments of silence, we finish our food, and Helena says, "We should go hunting."

"Hunting?" I say. "We don't know how to hunt." She looks at me for a second, and I realize what she means. I want to protest. I don't want to kill any more people. However, I know I have to kill or be killed, and I still value my life higher than anyone else's in this arena. My life is still my number one priority.


	8. The Games End

Helena and I walk along the river to try to find other tributes. We walk in silence, and when Helena tells me we should stop for lunch, they are the first words I've heard her say since breakfast. We eat the rest of the bread and cheese in silence. At this point we only have a few strips of jerky left, but we should have plenty of sponsors. Helena and I have killed almost every dead tribute.

The sun begins to set, causing the sky to radiate. I haven't heard any cannons since this morning, so the Capitol probably wants some action. Helena's killings were one sided, and the last battle only had minor injuries. Helena's arm had almost completely healed, and I assume Gordon is probably healed by now as well. Before Helena and I decide to break for dinner, a clap of thunder roars and the arena is suddenly very dark. It is cold, too. I look behind me at the river and see a blizzard approaching. This sudden change in weather must mean the Capitol wants to see a battle. Helena runs, and I follow. We are headed for the Cornucopia. The blizzard is close behind us. Tree branches scratch my face, my arms, my body, and my legs, but it is all I can do to avoid tripping and tree trunks. The blizzard stops with barely any forest between us and the small opening around the Cornucopia. The snow on the ground behind us is only a few inches deep, not difficult to return to after this battle.

I can see the group of four about 100 yards to my right. Parker, Gordon, and the District 11 kids are there with their weapons at the ready. I see two girls to my left, the District 4 Career girl and her partner, the District 5 girl. Almost directly across from me, I see the other three tributes, all without a partner, who have seemed to team up. I look at Helena and am surprised to see her with Anthony's sword instead of with her arrow.

Nobody moves, and by this point, everybody has noticed everyone else. Another unnatural event, perhaps some wolves or bears, must be on its way to force us into a frenzy and get us into battle. I look over my shoulder and then I hear the District 4 girl.

"Hey, Parker!" Her voice is friendly, but her intentions are deadly. She steps out of the woods and walks towards the Cornucopia, followed by her partner. "Your deaf brother tried to talk to me the other day. I couldn't understand him, though. Stupid thing can't even talk right." Parker, who apparently actually does have a deaf younger brother, charges at the girls with knives in his hands. The District 11 boy follows him with a mace to attack the girls. Helena takes this moment to attack Gordon and the District 11 girl. I follow her, but the two see us coming and run the other way. Eventually they catch up with the other three remaining tributes. The District 1 girl, District 3 girl, and District 6 boy, all already lost their partners and most likely lost their chance at winning. The three of them raise their weapons, an axe, darts, and a trident, respectively. I wonder what good the darts could do, but then I notice that they are blue at the tip, and probably poisonous. The girl with the darts throws one at Gordon, and they all begin to attack each other. The dart misses, and now Gordon is throwing his knives while the District 11 girl is using her spear. Helena takes her sword out from its sheath and walks up behind the District 11 girl. Helena raises her sword and tries to decapitate the girl, but Helena is not as strong as Anthony was, so she was unable to completely cut off the girl's head. The girl falls though, and a cannon fires for her. Two more cannons fire, and I know two people at the other battle have died, though I don't know which two. Gordon's knife hits the District 1 girl in her head, causing another cannon to fire. I load my arrow and fire it at Gordon. Gordon dies, and another cannon fires. Only six tributes remain, I realize. Interviews will be starting about the final contestants, if there is time, but it's possible, with all of us right here, the Game could end now.

I look behind me and see Parker and the District 11 boy running over. I tell Helena to run, and then I flee into the snow-covered forest.

I race into the forest, but I don't hear Helena following me. Turning around, I see her in a sword fight with the boy from District 11. Parker is trying not to be stabbed by the District 6 boy. Parker has nun chucks in his hand, but his knives, coated with the blood of the two dead girls by the Cornucopia, lay far out of reach, already thrown. The two are at a stalemate. If the District 6 boy misses with his trident, Parker could easily step forward and kill him. If Parker makes a quick move, it could mean his death. Parker's ally is battling Helena, and the District 6 boy's ally seems to have abandoned him. In fact, as I look for the other tribute that fled like me, I can't see her. I can't see any footsteps in the snow either.

The sound of a cannon fire brings my attention forward to the battles. Parker has killed the District 6 tribute, and he is running to receive his knives. I start to run back because I know Helena will be killed if I don't do something to help.

I raise my bow and shoot at the District 11 male. The arrow hits his arm, forcing him to drop his sword and fall to his knees. Parker is starting to run back and quickly throws his knives at Helena, but they both miss. All he has with him is his nun chucks. He charges at Helena, so I charge at him. I have a knife in my hand, and I raise it, ready to kill Parker. His nun chuck wraps around my wrist, rendering my weapon hand useless. Fortunately, I knock him over when I run into him. I hold him down, but I can't do anything to kill him without risking my own life.

I turn to see Helena cutting off the District 11 male's hair. She is using a dagger to shave him of all his dignity before killing him. "Helena," I scream, "Just kill him! Kill him, and Kill Parker, and we can go home to our normal lives!" Helena doesn't react; she just continues to chop off the tribute's hair. Her eyes and her smile widen, and her hair falls into her face. "Helena!" I yell one last time.

I hear Parker make a noise and I turn to him. His voice isn't a plea, or a cry, but a voice of a friend. "Ceth, she can't listen to you. She's gone. The Helena during the interview may have been acting cold-blooded, but this Helena is the real thing."

My eyes water, and I shake my head. "No, you're wrong," I say. Helena is the same person she always was, I know it. She just wants us to go back home. Parker, who was watching Helena, winces, and when I turn to see them, I can tell why. Helena is carving her name into his neck. "Just kill him, Helena!" I say.

"You do it, Ceth," Parker says. "I can't bear to watch this anymore. He needs mercy at this point." Parker drops his nun chucks, making him vulnerable. I could kill him with my sword right now, but I don't. I take his nun chucks away from him, stand up, and walk to the District 11 male, sword in my hand. I look him in the eye and stab him in the chest. A cannon fire signals his death. Looking at Helena, I can see that her crazy face hasn't left.

"You took my kill! You took my kill, and that was going on my record, and that was going to make people sponsor me, and that was going to get me supplies, and you took my kill!" Helena says, all very fast.

"Helena, it doesn't matter. We can go home soon," I say.

"It matters! We don't have water, and I broke my arrow, and if I don't kill you, you're going to kill me."

A loud voice sounds overhead. It doesn't sound like the same voice that spoke to us before the Games. It sounds like Katniss!

"Kids, a rebellion within the Capitol has captured everyone involved with the Games and is working to safely get all four of you out of the arena," Katniss says. "Please wait just a few moments, and a hovercraft will arrive shortly."

I look at Parker and say, "That was Katniss!" I hear a cheer from the Cornucopia. The District 3 girl comes running out from her hiding spot smiling. She reaches our area and starts crying happily.

"We get to go home!" She says.

Suddenly, Helena takes her dagger and stabs the girl in the chest. No cannon fires signaling her death, but she is dead. Helena continues to stab the girl, waiting for a cannon. I can't even move, let alone talk.

"Helena," Parker says. "You just killed that innocent girl for no reason!"

"None of us are innocent!" Helena says. Her eyes are wild, her hair blocks her face, and her smile, though hidden behind her hair, is clearly a smile of evil.

"The Games are over, Helena," I say after I recover from my shock.

"The Games are never over! I will always be in the Games! I have to win! I have to win, and you have to die!" Helena says. "I have to win so I can be victorious! I only have to win!"

She stands and slowly approaches Parker. Parker is weaponless, and backing away slowly. I know what I have to do. I pick up my bow and an arrow and aim it at Helena. Before I shoot, I try once more to talk some reason into her.

"Helena, you don't have to do this. We can all go home. The Games are over. You-" I say, but Helena cuts me off.

"The Games are never over!"

"Helena!" I scream. "I am your best friend! Listen to me! Stop it! Don't kill Parker!"

Helena doesn't respond and continues to stare at Parker, while approaching him cautiously, like a cat stalking its prey. Parker looks at me and says, "I'm sorry, Ceth."

I shoot my arrow at Helena, and she falls over. I run to her and kneel by her side, crying.

"Do I lose?" She says. Her eyes look at me and close slowly.

"No, Helena, you won. The Games are over, and you won."

Helena closes her eyes and smiles, and though it may just have been my imagination, I hear a cannon fire.


	9. Funeral

**A/N: **I don't know if anyone is reading this anymore, but here is the final chapter of my story. If you've made it this far, thank you for sticking with me to the end! Please review (not specifically this chapter, but the story itself).

I know that I did the right thing in firing that arrow at Helena, but I didn't mean to kill her. I just wanted to knock her over, protect Parker.

Parker and I left the arena in a hovercraft, while another took the bodies of all the dead tributes that had not been picked up yet. I cried to myself as we flew to the Capitol. I cried to myself as a team of doctors did their check up. And I cried to myself as I went to sleep that night. Eventually the tears stopped, but I will never forget everything that happened.

There were funerals in the Capitol for the dead tributes. All the families were brought in for the ceremonies. Parker and I went to every funeral so far. I find myself now at the funeral for Helena. I have prepared something to say, and when it is my turn, I approach the microphone and talk to the thousands of people in front of me, as well as to millions more through the camera.

"Helena Miller was my best friend. We may have pretended to hate each other, but she was my best friend. You all saw her as a heartless girl, but she was more than that. The Games changed her in ways I never expected. I killed her. I killed her because even if she had lived, she never could have recovered. She always would have been in the Games. She always would have been a danger to everyone around her, and a danger to herself. To the families of all her victims, I ask you to forgive her." I walked over to the coffin with Helena inside, a wound in her neck. "And Helena, I ask you to forgive me."

I returned to my seat crying. Parker took my hand in his. We stood for the national anthem as Helena was lowered into the ground, never to hurt anyone again.


End file.
